Springing arrangement



Dec. 3, .1940. K. RABE 2,223,741

SPRINGING ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 5, 1934 s Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 15,1940. K. RABE 2,223,741

SPRINGING ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 5, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ja M K. RABE SPRINGING ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 5, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ifs tented Dec. 3, 1940 PATENT OFFICE 2,223,741 sramemc ARRANGEMENT Karl Rabe, Stuttgart, Germany, assignor to Dr.

ing. 11-. c. F. Porsche, K.-G., Stuttgart-Zuifenhausen, Germany, a company of Germany Application December 5, 1934, Serial No. 756,149

In Germany December 8, 1933 18 Claims. 267-57) The present invention relates to springing arrangemen-ts for use, for instance, in motor vehicles including such vehicles having swinging half axles, rotary spring means, such as torsion springs, being preferably employed.

It has already been proposed to spring swing- I ing half-axles by means of torsion springs disposed in or approximately in the theoretical axis of oscillation of the wheels. This arrangement is however only possible, when the pivotal joints of the half-axles, to which the torsion springs are attached, are accessible and 'the space required for the desired type of spring means is not taken up by other parts such as parts of the vehicle 18 frame. In addition, the springs must be made so easily accessible for their adjustment and renewal that they can be mounted and dismounted without any great expenditure of time and labour. This entails difiiculty, more particularly when 3 torsion bar springs are used and are disposed in or approximately in the theoretical axis of oscillation of the wheels and the axes of oscillation of the springs are placed some distance within the frame.

An object of this invention is the provision of improved springing arrangements for Vehicles, as, for example, for vehicles having swinging halfaxles.

Another object of this invention is the provision of spring means for vehicles, which are readily accessible for adjustment, and which may be easily mounted and dismounted. V

A further object of this invention is the provision of spring means for vehicles which are linked to but do not support the wheel axle. I

A still further object of this invention is the provision of novel adjustable springing means for vehicles.

Another and more particular object of this vention is the provision of springing means for vehicles having a progressive springing action.

These and other features, capabilities, and advantages of the invention will appear from the subioined, detailed description 01' several illustrative embodiments thereof, illustrated in the, accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is the rear view of the half-axles which are not driven; 50 Fig. 2 is the plan view, partly in section along line IIlI of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section along line III-.III of Fig. 2, to an enlarged scale; I Fig. 4 is the rear view of a second construcg5 tional example;

. line IX of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the correspond-:1 ing spring characteristic.

In the constructional example shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the wheels I, l' are journalled on the halfaxles 2, 2', the inner ends 3, 3 of which are provided with supporting means such as bear ing journals 4, 4'. The bearing journals 4, 4' which are shown as lying parallel next to one another are jointly journalled in supporting bodies 5, 5' which are connected to-the longitudinal frame members 6, 6 by means illustrated as bolts; I, 'I'. At the outside of each of the rearwardly converging longitudinal frame members 6, 5', spring bars 8 and 8' respectively are disposed parallel. to the said frame members, the ends 9, ll) of which may be rotatably journalled in. g supporting means shown as brackets ll, l2. The forward spring end 9 is connected by a fluted profile I! or any other suitable means with a downwardly directed lever it which is supported with respect to the longitudinal frame member, r

by suitable means such as a tension bolt l5 which is adjustable by means of a nut. The rear spring end i0 is connected by means such as a-fluted profile IE to a rocking lever I! which is approximately equidirectional with the half-axle 2. The. rocking lever I 7 is connected by a two-part link member l8 by means of the. pins'20, 2| tothe half-axle 2. The lower pin 20 is journalled in the eye of the rocking lever I! by means of an initially stressed resilient sleeve 22, for instance: 49 inthe manner of a silent rubber block. The halfaxle 2 is reinforced in a triangular manner be tween the bearing journal 4 and the pivot pin 2|. Whenever half-axle 2 swings about the axis A of the journal 4, upwards in the direction R, the rocking lever I1 is carried along in the'direction H by the link member I8 in a positive manner. The rocking lever ll swings about the axis B of the spring bar 8, approximately through the same angle as the half-axle 2. By this means the rear 50 spring end It is displaced. in the supporting bracket l2 with respect to-the fixed forward end, so that the spring bar 8 is twisted over its entire length and a returning moment acting on the half-axle 2 is produced. As the axis 3 o! the torsion spring is not exactly parallel to the theoretical axis of oscillation A of the wheel I, deviations occur in the rotary paths of the pivot pins 26, 2i, which are compensated by the yielding interposed sleeve 22. Such interposed sleeves make any special attention to the joints unnecessary and prevent these joints becoming knocked to pieces, owing to the unavoidable bearing inaccuracies between the half-axle 2 and the rocking lever I'I. As the guiding of the wheel is effected solely by the half-axle 2, the rocking lever II is relieved of the guiding forces and is only subjected to the springing forces. The levers I4, II are mounted next to the supporting brackets I2, II- directly on the spring bar 8, which makes their journalling easier. For regulating the initial stressing of the spring, the length of the tension bolt I5 is adjusted by the nut, an operation which can be effected under load. After the removal of the pins H, H and the release of the bolts I, I, the half-axles 2, 2' can be removed as a complete unit. After the removal of the pin 20 and the tension bolt I5 and the release of one of the bearings II, I2, the

spring bar 8 together with the rocking lever I! can be removed without any obstruction.

In the constructional example shown in Figs.

i to 7, the axle tube 2 is reinforced in its middle on which are suspended the link members I8,

secured in place by washers 2Ia. In the bottom link ends a pin 20 is inserted, which is secured by washers 20a. The eye IIa. of the rocking lever I1 is journalled on the pin 20 with an interposed resilient block 22, such as rubber. The lever eye I'Ia is secured in its position withrespect to the link members I8 by means of the inner bush 22a of the rubber block 22. The inner end of the sleeve 26 may be provided with a ring of teeth 26, with which a chain 36 engages, which may be carried forward as to the driver's platform and can be adjusted by the driver by suitable means (not shown).

When, as shown, the link members I6 are perpendicular to the axle tube 2, the spring characteristic for the wheel I will follow substantially a straight line law K. When, however, the link -members I8 are inclined by the angle a with respect to the axle tube 2, so that they form an obtuse angle with the rocking lever II, this characteristic will change in a positive manner and will follow a power law K. The sizeof the power is directly dependent on the angle of displacement at. Taking a given wheel pressure Po, the corresponding spring path )0 will, during the displacement decrease by the amount Af, that is to say with a constant vehicle load the deflection of the half-axle 2 can be increased, or the vehicle can be raised with respect to the road surface. Starting however with a given axle position, the wheel pressure Po will, during adjustment, increase by the amount AP, that is to say with an increasing vehicle load the position of the axle can be kept unchanged. Thus, with this arrangement a balance between the vehicle load andthe position of the vehicle can be obtained according to the given circumstances.

The sleeve 26 can be displaced in the following manner: from the driver's platform the sleeve 26 is turned by the chain 36 through a suitable arrangement, the sleeve 26 being displaced in a positive manner on the axle tube 2 along with the ring 25 in the direction Q, that is to say towards the wheel I. The ring 25 is secured against being carried along through the link members I8 by the rocking lever I'I, so that the link members I8 can turn on the journals 20, 2| and adopt an inclined position with respect to the axle tube 2. If the thread 28 should be made self-locking, the lateral forces produced by th inclination of the link members I6 will be transmitted directly from the thread 28 by way of the sleeve 21 to theaxle tube 2. Although the lateral forces increase as the angle of displacement increases, they are nevertheless'so small in the range of displacement required that there can be no appreciable influencing of the springing through increase in the frictional forces. The chain end 36 engaging in th ring of teeth takes part in this adjusting movement and also in the swinging movement of the sleeve 26, and it is therefore necessary to provide for this motion, for instance, by making the chain of a suitable length, so that there shall be no influencing of the springing as well.

In the constructional example shown in Figs. 8 to 10, the half-axle 2 supporting th wheel I is journalled, as with a ball and socket arrangement, in the cover 4a of the axle casing So so as to turn about the point M. The half-axle 2 is connected with a forwardly extending swinging strut 30 which is pivotally attached by means illustrated as a pin Si in the bearing bracket 32 of the longitudinal frame member 6. The axis A of the pivot pin 3I passes through the centre point M of the axle joint. The half-axle 2 is provided with a socket 25 which has a spherical cup 25a which is open to the top. At the outside of the longitudinal frame member 6 a spring bar 6 is disposed parallel to the same. Its forward end engages the supporting journal III of a forked rocking lever II by means shown as a fluted profile I6, while its rear end is connected to the supporting bracket I I of the longitudinal frame member 6 by similar means I 3. The supporting journals I0, Illa of the rocking lever II are journalled in brackets I2, -I2a which are connected to the longitudinal frame member 6 at either side of a cranked part of the frame member, which enables the half-axle 2 to swing. The outer end of the rocking lever I'Iv supports a spherical cup IIa which is open to the bottom. In the spherical cups I'la, 25a is disposed a compression member I8 provided with spherical ends 20, 2! through which the rocking lever II is supported on the half-axle 2.

The link members I'I, I8 which with the halfaxl 2 form a link quadrilateral are placed so as to incline outwards and form with one another an acute angle ,6. Through the inclined position of the two link members I'I, I8 a relatively great progressive action can be obtained even with moderate angles of inclination. This progressive action has the advantage that it secures equally soft springing at all loads. On the wheel I springing, the wheel pressure increases, for instance by a power e. The hardness of the spring, the amount of which is indicated in Fig. 10 by the inclination of the tangent T, is in each case proportional to the wheel pressure P. This is indicated by the sub-tangents S for the points Po and P1 of the characteristic K being equal.

The points Po and P1 suitably correspond to the wheel pressures with an unloaded and fully loaded vehicle. When swinging the wheel I swings about the axis A, the rocking lever I l swings about the axis 13, so that the paths of the centres 01 the spheres II in each case lie in dlflerent planes. Through the self-adjustment of the compression member it over its spherical ends 20, 2 I, these deviations are compensated in a positive manner. Lack of accuracy in the bearings due to distortion of the chassis may also be compensated in this way, so that this springing arrangement is specially suitable for heavy goods vehicles.

As regards the essence of the invention it is immaterial, whether the wheels joumalled on the half-axles are driven or not. The invention may with advantage be applied to all kinds of swinging half-axles, irrespective of whether they are mounted in pin or ball and socket joints and are supportedby swinging struts or, not. It is also immaterial as regards the essence of the invention, how the torsion springs are disposed with respect to the halt-axles, as the way they are iournalled depends on the particular construction of the chassis. Thus the torsion springs may be disposed either above or below and either on the outside or the inside of the half-axles, so that the link members connected to them may form closed or open, two-dimensional or threeof suitable length the link members l8 may be placed at an inclination in both directions to the vertical central position. In place of the chain actuation for the socket 26 any other adjusting device may be used, for instance adjustment by hand. For the compression member I! a tension member may be substituted. When the torsion spring is disposed below, the spherical ends 20,

- ii of which must then be held in the bearing cups Ila, 2511. Furthermore, the terms "frame or "chassis as used herein arenot to be construed as limited to a construction separate from ,the vehicle body, but to include those cases in which the chassis or frame is integral with such body.

' It will be seen that I have provided a construction which satisfies the objects enumerated above, and while I have shown the invention in certain physical embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications of the structure shown may be rotary spring means, and a connection between said spring and axle through which the reaction force of the spring is applied to the axle, said connection being independent of the wheel supporting axle and comprising means articulated to said axle.

2. Spring means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle pivotally secured to the.

chassis, rotary spring means carried by the chassis, and connecting means through which the reaction force of the spring is applied to'said axle, said connecting means being independent of the wheel supporting axleand being articulated to said axle.

3. Spring supporting means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle movably sup- 5 ported by said chassis for oscillation about a fixed axis, rotary spring means mounted upon the chassis for rotation about an axis inclined to the axis about which said axle is movable, and connecting means between said spring means and said axle. A

4. Spring supporting means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle movably supported by said chassis for oscillation about a fixed axis, rotary spring means mounted upon the chassis for rotation about an axis inclined to the axis about which said axle is movable, and universal joint connecting means between said spring means and said axle.

5. Spring supporting means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle movably supported by said chassis for oscillation about a fixed axis, rotary spring means mounted upon the chassis for rotation about an axis inclined to the axis about which said axle is movable, and articulated connecting means between said spring means and said axle.

6. Spring supporting means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle secured to the chassis for movement with respect thereto, and rotary spring means, a resilient connection between said spring and axle through which the reaction force 01' the spring is applied to the axle, said connection comprising means articulated to said axle. and said articulated means comprising :5 an arm connected with said spring means and a link connected to said arm and to said axle.

7. Spring supporting means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle secured to the chassis for movement with respect thereto, rotary spring means, and a connection between said spring and axle through which the reaction force 01. the spring is applied tothe axle, said connection comprising means articulated to said axle, and said articulated means comprising an am connected with said spring means and a link connected to said arm and to said axle by universal joints.

8. Spring supporting means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle pivotally secured to the, chassis, rotary spring means carried by the chassis, and connecting means through which the reaction i'orce of the spring is applied to said axle, said connecting means being so con- I structed and arranged that the angular velocity ratio between the spring means and the axle changes as the spring defiection changes.

9. Spring supporting means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle pivotally secured to the chassis, rotary spring means carried so by the chassis, and connecting means through which the reaction force of the sprin is applied to said axle, said connecting means being so constructed and arranged'that the angular velocity ratio between the spring means and the axle increases as the spring deflection increases.

10. Spring supporting means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle pivotally secured to the chassis, rotary spring means carried by the chassis, and resilient connecting means through which the reaction force of the spring is applied to said axle, said connecting means together with said axle and chassis forming a link quadrilateral.

11. The combination as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the rotary spring means comprises a torsion bar.

12. The combination as claimed in claim 3, wherein the rotary spring means comprises a 5 torsion bar.

13. Spring supporting means for vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle pivotally secured to the chassis, spring means carried by the chassis, and connecting means through which the reaction force of the spring is applied to said axle, one element of said connecting means. being oscill'atable in a plane other than that in which the axle oscillates, and another element thereof being connected by universal joint connections to said first element and to said axle.

14. The combination as claimed in claim 10, wherein the rotary spring means comprises a torsion bar and includes means for adjustingthe reaction of said torsion bar upon the axle.

2o 15. In a wheel springing mechanism for vehicles having a frame, in combination, a wheel supporting axle pivoted to said frame about a fixed axis, spring means, mounted upon the frame for rotation about an axis inclined to the axis about which said axle is movable, an arm connected to said spring means, and linkage means connecting said arm to said axle, the angle between said arm and said link being determined by the load on the vehicle and being a measure of the strength :0 of the springing.

16. Spring supporting means for a vehicle chassis comprising a wheel supporting axle supported by the chassis for movement with respect thereto, rotary spring means, and a resilient connection between said spring and axle through ,6 which the reaction force of the spring is applied to the axle, said connection being independent of the axle supporting means and comprising means articulated to said axle.

1'7. The combination according to claim 15 1 1 10 which said arm comprises a forked member, one leg of which is connected to the spring means, the other leg of which is rotatably carried by the frame, and the apex of which is connected to the linkage means. it

18. In a wheel springing mechanism for vehicles having aframe, in combination, a wheel supporting axle, an armhaving a pair of spaced extensions, one extension being provided at its end with an interconnected hollow bushing,,20 means for journaling said bushing on said frame, means for journaling the other extension on said frame co-axially with said journaled bushing, a torsion rod rigidly interconnected at one end to said bushing and at its other end to said frame,25 for rotation "about an axis co-axial with the Journaled extensions of said arm, and means for articulating said arm to said wheel supporting axle.

KARL RABE. 

